The Mallorca Council could lose half a million euros due to road advertising fines, according to the PSIB.

The Mallorcan Council repeatedly fined the company Malla Publicidad for placing billboards in areas where the Highway Law did not permit them, according to sources from the PSIB (Spanish Association of Public Administrations) told ARA Baleares. However, when the Administrative Simplification Law was amended, the meaning of the concept of "crossing" contemplated in the regulations was also changed, the same sources point out. Article 36 of the Highway Law established that billboards could not be installed alongside roads and could only be placed in urban crossroads, and only on urban land. Furthermore, the installation of such billboards on rural land was completely prohibited.

Thanks to this change, the actions for which the island institution fined Malla "are no longer punishable," they explain. Therefore, the company "could claim the appeals they have filed for the fines and win them," which could mean a loss of "close to half a million euros" for the island institution, they assert. In fact, proposals to revoke this company's disciplinary proceedings have already been presented to the full council of the Consell (Mallorcan Council), while the Socialists accuse the government of redefining the concept of "crossing" so that "the billboards would become legal" and thus "favor" the advertising company.

MÉS (Mallorcan Councilor) Joan Llodrà asked the Consell's governing team "why these advertisements used to bother drivers but now they don't." Similarly, Socialist Councilor Javier de Juan denounced that, with the regulatory amendment, the island institution "has removed all the tools that the council's technicians had to sanction this type of irregularity." Therefore, he has asked the governing team to detail how many revocation proposals will be brought to the full council and how much money it will cost.

The regional minister for Territory, Mobility, and Infrastructure, Fernando Rubio, justified the government team's claim that it "follows the law" and criticized the Socialists for lecturing him. "It has allowed people who have committed crimes to return to our country and engage in politics with total impunity." Similarly, PP sources assured ARA Baleares that the state highway law already contemplated this meaning of "crossing."

PP spokesperson Núria Riera defended the government team and emphasized that it is "following the law." "If the violations cease to be violations, we will not violate the law," she asserted. She also criticized the Socialists for "wasting money to change the urban planning legislation."